Monster Hunter World: No “Pay-to-Win” Mechanics

In a recent interview, Monster Hunter World producer Ryozo Tsujimoto has eased the curiosity of fans by letting them know that that there will not be loot boxes in the game or any type of “pay to win” mechanics”. According to Tsujimoto, that type of mechanic “creates friction” and detracts from the main idea of the game, namely that it is a cooperative experience.

We want to make sure nobody is under the impression that, because it looks like the kind of game where you might have loot boxes, they definitely aren’t there. We want people to just enjoy our great gameplay loop of achievement satisfaction where there are tough challenges, but learning how to play the game and getting better at it, you’ll be able to overcome those challenges.

The idea of MHW is that players learn to adjust and adapt to monster hunting through their own skills, not necessarily through the best equipment. “Even when you get to a certain wall, you’re like ‘OK, I’m 10 hours in, I suddenly have a monster I can’t beat’. It’s not about ‘well, I’ll just throw a bit of money in and I’ll get better gear to do it’.